Becker: '85 Wimbledon Showed Could Play

Published 6:00 pm, Thursday, February 20, 2003

When Boris Becker won Wimbledon in 1985 at age 17, he became the youngest man to win a Grand Slam event and an instant celebrity.

It wasn't until Becker won it again the next year, though, that he knew that he could really play high level tennis.

"Only when I confirmed it in '86 by winning again, I knew that I was in the sport for good, and I'm a good tennis player," Becker said Friday on a teleconference to discuss his upcoming induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

"So I think the Wimbledon victory in '86 was the vital point I needed to confirm it, mostly to myself."

Becker will be enshrined among tennis' immortals on July 12 along with Francoise Durr and Nancy Richey, who will be inducted in the Master Player category, and Brian Tobin.

Durr, of France, won the 1967 French Open and 11 major doubles titles. Richey, an American, captured the 1967 Australian Open, the 1968 French Open, and four Grand Slam doubles titles, and was the only player to win the U.S. Clay Court singles championship six straight times from 1963 to 1968.

Tobin, inducted as a contributor to the sport, was president of the International Tennis Federation from 1991-99 and was Australia's captain when it won the 1964 Davis Cup.

Becker won six Grand Slam singles titles and was ranked No. 1 for a total of 109 weeks. He won 49 singles titles and 15 doubles titles, and helped West Germany win the 1988 and '89 Davis Cup championships.

But it was Wimbledon that made him a star.

He was 17 years, 7 months old when he won in 1985 _ the tournament's first unseeded winner. He won again '86 and '89, and added U.S. Open titles in '89 and Australian Open titles in '91 and '96.

"My first Wimbledon was as big a surprise to me as to the whole world," he said. "I was quite in a state of shock."

He also believes it was the tournament that brought him to Newport.

"The bar was always 'Wimbledon winner at 17,' so I couldn't really train in peace and quiet," he said. "At 17, 18, you're still developing very much as a player. On the other hand, I wouldn't be probably included in the Hall of Fame if I wouldn't have won at 17, so it wasn't too bad after all."